President Mahmud Ahmadinejad of Iran and President Bharat Jagdeo of Guyana

The President of Guyana Bharrat Jagdeo recently visited a few middle eastern countries, of interest to some was the visit to Iran. BU finds it surprising that we have had little if any analysis in the local media about what motivated the visit to Iran and possible implications for the region. It should be noted that Guyana is a sovereign nation and is solely responsible for shaping its foreign policy.

Press reports suggest that and a MOU was signed with Iran which will see Iranian medical doctors  fill shortages at state [Guyana] hospitals and build a medical school to train students and junior physicians. Additionally, Guyana is to benefit from a $1.5 million grant to target the healthcare system and resources to map mineral resources. Other countries like Jordan and Kuwait provided financial and other resources.

The foreign policy positioning of the Jagdeo led Guyana seems at odds with that of other countries in Caricom. Given the intrigue of geopolitics at large, it seems surprising to see Guyana formulating a foreign policy which could see it at odds with the only super power. Despite the boast of being a sovereign country it is one of the lowest rated if measured by GDP or HDI. Taking on a conflicting position with the USA might prove unwise.

If Iran delivers on what has been published the region can look forward to Iran joining China and Taiwan in the region. Ordinarily any country offering aid to an impoverished nation is something that would be rejoiced at, can we in this case? Will the United States ignore the relationship with Iran by our South American Caricom member? Commonsense thinking echoes a loud no. Bear in mind the USA has always been concerned by so-called religious zealots cum-terrorists who allegedly have found a home in Iran over the years.

It would be interesting to note for the record whether President Jagdeo, who recently relinquished the Chairmanship of Caricom would have hinted to his colleagues the foreign policy direction he seems to be currently pursuing. At a minimum as a matter of courtesy!

Those better placed to assess the games which are played out on the stage of geopolitics say the Caribbean is of little interest to the USA in a post-cold war era. Cuba now finds it stands alone in a world minus the Soviet Union. Iran’s entry into the neighbourhood may just make Uncle Sam take notice.

Over the years Guyana has been a country which has been filled with political and racial tension. To add the bevy of issues which establishing a relationship with Iran may bring to the region should make Caricom leaders want to take notice as well.

19 responses to “Iran And Guyana Make Strange Bedfellows:Implications For Caricom”


  1. Under the Obama Whitehouse, Guyana has nothing to fear. No wait Iran has nothing to fear. Chavez will be given full reign to continue the unhinged imprisonment of his fellow countrymen, so what if Iran thinks their is some foriegn policy interest in South America? America is still the big bad bully that is the real threat to the world.


  2. When weighing up the consequences of who to beg aid from, maybe Jagdeo decided on an oil rich country who has never invaded anyone, well not since Xerxes anyway, rather than our large northern neighbour with more than 50 “interventions” into sovereign Latin America.
    http://www2.truman.edu/~marc/resources/interventions.html


  3. you missed the uranium connection!
    most people in Guyana are not aware of it but there is an active core of plunderers in Guyana digging up the ground looking for Uranium
    we’ve been following this issues for a number of years
    http://propagandapress.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/guyanairan-uranium-deal-bharrat-jagdeos-dirty-deeds-in-tehran/


  4. Should the foreign policy direction of Guyana be of concern to the wider region? Jagdeo had a lot to say about Barbados’ proposed changes to the immigration laws.

    What is sovereignty.


  5. Politicks does make for strange bedfellows. There’s just something fishy about this Bharat Jagdeo …I smell a RAT!


  6. @Hopi: “There’s just something fishy about this Bharat Jagdeo …I smell a RAT!

    Maybe you’re just smelling yourself….


  7. Ha! Ha! Ha! Somebody got jokes! Wuhloss! B H A ‘R A T’!


  8. US raises stakes on Iran by sending in ships and missiles

    Pentagon says Patriot shield will deter strike on American allies in the Gulf

    * Chris McGreal in Washington
    * guardian.co.uk, Sunday 31 January 2010 19.07 GMT
    * Article history

    Patriot missile

    A Patriot missile is launched during an Israeli-US military excercise in the Negev desert in southern Israel in February 2001. Photograph: Reuters

    Tension between the US and Iran heightened dramatically today with the disclosure that Barack Obama is deploying a missile shield to protect American allies in the Gulf from attack by Tehran.

    The US is dispatching Patriot defensive missiles to four countries – Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait – and keeping two ships in the Gulf capable of shooting down Iranian missiles. Washington is also helping Saudi Arabia develop a force to protect its oil installations.

    American officials said the move is aimed at deterring an attack by Iran and reassuring Gulf states fearful that Tehran might react to sanctions by striking at US allies in the region. Washington is also seeking to discourage Israel from a strike against Iran by demonstrating that the US is prepared to contain any threat.
    Chris McGreal: ‘The US is prepared to move decisively against any threat from Iran’ Link to this audio

    The deployment comes after Obama’s attempts to emphasise diplomacy over confrontation in dealing with Iran – a contrast to the Bush administration’s approach – have failed to persuade Tehran to open its nuclear installations to international controls. The White House is now trying to engineer agreement for sanctions focused on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, believed to be in charge of the atomic programme.

    Washington has not formally announced the deployment of the Patriots and other anti-missile systems, but by leaking it to American newspapers the administration is evidently seeking to alert Tehran to a hardening of its position.

    The administration is deploying two Patriot batteries, capable of shooting down incoming missiles, in each of the four Gulf countries. Kuwait already has an older version of the missile, deployed after Iraq’s invasion. Saudi Arabia has long had the missiles, as has Israel.

    An unnamed senior administration official told the New York Times: “Our first goal is to deter the Iranians. A second is to reassure the Arab states, so they don’t feel they have to go nuclear themselves. But there is certainly an element of calming the Israelis as well.”

    The chief of the US central command, General David Petraeus, said in a speech 10 days ago that countries in the region are concerned about Tehran’s military ambitions and the prospect of it becoming a dominant power in the Gulf: “Iran is clearly seen as a very serious threat by those on the other side of the Gulf front.”

    Petraeus said the US is keeping cruisers equipped with advanced anti-missile systems in the Gulf at all times to act as a buffer between Iran and the Gulf states.

    Washington is also concerned at the threat of action by Israel, which is predicting that Iran will be able to build a nuclear missile within a year, a much faster timetable than assessed by the US, and is warning that it will not let Tehran come close to completion if diplomacy fails.

    The director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, met the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and other senior officials in Jerusalem last week to discuss Iran.

    Pro-Israel lobby groups in the US have joined Republican party leaders in trying to build public pressure on the administration to take a tougher line with Iran. One group, the Israel Project, has been running a TV campaign warning that Iran might supply nuclear weapons to terrorists.

    “Imagine Washington DC under missile attack from nearby Baltimore,” it says. “A nuclear Iran is a threat to peace, emboldens extremists, and could give nuclear materials to terrorists with the ability to strike anywhere.”

    Washington is also concerned that if Iran is able to build nuclear weapons, other states in the region will feel the need to follow. Israel is the only country in the Middle East to already have atomic bombs, although it does not officially acknowledge it.

    The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said in London last week that the US will press for additional sanctions against Iran if it fails to curb its nuclear programme.

    Europe’s foreign affairs minister, Catherine Ashton, today said the UN security council should now take up the issue. “We are worried about what’s happening in Iran. I’m disappointed at the failure of Iran to accept the dialogue and we now need to look again at what needs to happen there,” she told Sky News.

    “The next step for us is to take our discussions into the security council. When I was meeting with Hillary Clinton last week we talked about Iran and we were very clear this is a problem we will have to deal with.”

    However, China and Russia are still pressing for a diplomatic solution.

    Tony Blair, Middle East envoy on behalf of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU, continually referred to what he described as the Iranian threat during his evidence at the Chilcot inquiry last Friday. Textual analysis now shows that he mentioned Iran 58 times.

    Besides the new missile deployment, Washington is also helping Saudi Arabia to create a 30,000-strong force to protect oil installations and other infrastructure, as well as expanded joint exercises between the US and military forces in the region.

    The move is a continuation of the military build-up begun under former president George W Bush. In the past two years, Abu Dhabi has bought $17bn (£11bn) worth of weapons from the US, including the Patriot anti-missile batteries and an advanced anti-missile system. UAE recently bought 80 US-made fighter jets. It is also buying fighters from France.

    Petraeus said in a speech in Bahrain last year the UAE air force “could take out the entire Iranian air force, I believe”.
    Missile defence

    Patriot missiles are designed to intercept enemy missiles before they reach their target. Since production began in 1980, 9,000 missiles have been delivered to countries including Germany, Greece, Taiwan and Japan.

    During the first Gulf war Patriot success was 70% in Saudi Arabia and 40% in Israel. Since then the US has spent more than $10bn (£6.3bn) improving, among other aspects, the system’s radar and computer compatibility for joint forces action. Once in position, the system requires a crew of only three people to operate. Each missile weighs 700kg and has a range of about 100 miles.

    The US navy is in the process of upgrading all its Ticonderoga class cruisers and a number of destroyers to carry the Aegis ballistic missile defence system. It uses a surface-to-air missile that is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles above the atmosphere. It has also been tested on failing satellites as they fall to earth. Each missile is over 6m long and costs more than $9m.

    James Sturcke


  9. Iran = dangerous escalation
    Israel = self defence
    duh?
    Who’s zooming who in the ME?


  10. What was it the the great Errol Barrow said? “Friends of All, Satellites of none. Maybe President Jagdeo is pursing this policy


  11. The clip I heard also referred to the agreement that Iran assist in the search for uranium.

    So, there appears to be more in the pestle..

    Certainly, it would appear that more nations are slowly becoming aware that the Caribbean region may well be richer in mineral resources than just Trinidad oil & gas.

    Certainly, with Cuba’ s and Brazil’s recent discovery of oil, would this indicate that the region as a whole may be rich?

    Just a question of where to look?

    And where there are resources, there are people looking to work those resources…

    Nevertheless, this certainly has other political overtones and with Iran agreeing to assist in other areas i.e.medical, that would indicate that Iran intends to have input into the social aspect of the country rather directly i.e. not just an industrial agreement but a deeper involvement.

    From a political perspective, this will certainly have implications for USA foreign policy, indeed the USA office must be buzzing with this, much headscratching.

    Funnily enough, this may be just what the Caribbean needs for a ‘new’ interest from the West.

    Recently, what with the hoops that Barbadians need to get visas etc, when we have been such an ally and so well behaved when abroad, maybe it is time that others take an interest in the region.

    At the least it may make the larger countries think about how these islands are treated.

    At the least,m things just got a mite more interesting ’bout hey’.


  12. Anybody else tired of this bullcrap.

    De country with the World’s largest nuclear arsenal and growing telling other countries not to have nuclear power or weapons .
    De only country to drop nuclear bombs on another and currently using Depleted Uranium munitions in Iraq (God only knows where else) .Causing radiation poisoning fa years to come.

    Not to mention Israel , one of the World’s most powerful nuclear powers with great help from the same US.

    Its so sickening , they don’t have the moral high ground by a long shot.


  13. @Illiminator

    Can the USA afford another war or should we call it offensive?


  14. From cnn, I post this not to stir trouble, but to state that whenever any foreign Govenrment or company does business here, we must ensure that controls are in place to prevent the use of hazardous materials.

    …………………………………………………
    per CNN:

    Island residents sue U.S., saying military made them sickBy Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein,
    CNN Special Investigations Unit
    February 1, 2010 4:03 p.m. EST

    Hermogenes Marrero, as a young U.S. Marine, was stationed on the island of Vieques nearly 40 years ago.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
    Vieques was one of Navy’s largest firing ranges and weapons testing sites
    Thousands of residents say testing has made them seriously ill
    Government says under “sovereign immunity,” residents have no right to sue
    See how residents are coping with illnesses on “Campbell Brown” tonight 8 ET
    Hear from residents of Vieques, where thousands of people say U.S. weapons testing has made them seriously ill, on tonight’s “Campbell Brown,” 8 ET

    Vieques, Puerto Rico (CNN) — Nearly 40 years ago, Hermogenes Marrero was a teenage U.S. Marine, stationed as a security guard on the tiny American island of Vieques, off the coast of Puerto Rico.

    Marrero says he’s been sick ever since. At age 57, the former Marine sergeant is nearly blind, needs an oxygen tank, has Lou Gehrig’s disease and crippling back problems, and sometimes needs a wheelchair.

    “I’d go out to the firing range, and sometimes I’d start bleeding automatically from my nose,” he said in an interview to air on Monday night’s “Campbell Brown.”

    “I said, ‘My God, why am I bleeding?’ So then I’d leave the range, and it stops. I come back, and maybe I’m vomiting now. I used to get diarrhea, pains in my stomach all the time. Headaches — I mean, tremendous headaches. My vision, I used to get blurry.”

    The decorated former Marine is now the star witness in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit by more than 7,000 residents of this Caribbean island — about three-quarters of its population — who say that what the U.S. military did on Vieques has made them sick.

    Read: Are Americans being forgotten on Vieques?

    For nearly six decades, beginning right after World War II, Vieques was one of the Navy’s largest firing ranges and weapons testing sites.

    “Inside the base, you could feel the ground — the ground moving,” Marrero said. “You can hear the concussions. You could feel it. If you’re on the range, you could feel it in your chest. That’s the concussion from the explosion. It would rain, actually rain, bombs. And this would go on seven days a week.”

    After years of controversy and protest, the Navy left Vieques in 2003. Today, much of the base is demolished, and what’s left is largely overgrown. But the lawsuit remains, and island residents want help and compensation for numerous illnesses they say they suffer.

    “The people need the truth to understand what is happening to their bodies,” said John Eaves Jr., the Mississippi attorney who represents the islanders in the lawsuit.

    Because he no longer lives on Vieques, Marrero is not one of the plaintiffs but has given sworn testimony in the case. He said the weapons used on the island included napalm; depleted uranium, a heavy metal used in armor-piercing ammunition; and Agent Orange, the defoliant used on the Vietnamese jungles that was later linked to cancer and other illnesses in veterans.

    “We used to store it in the hazardous material area,” Marrero said. It was used in Vieques as a defoliant for the fence line.

    The military has never acknowledged a link between Marrero’s ailments and his time at Vieques, so he receives few disability or medical benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    Neither the Navy nor the Justice Department, which is handling the government’s defense, would discuss the islanders’ lawsuit with CNN.

    But Eaves said his clients don’t believe that the military has fully disclosed the extent of the contamination on Vieques: “Like uranium was denied, then they admitted it.”

    Dr. John Wargo, a Yale professor who studies the effects of toxic exposures on human health, says he believes that people on the island are sick because of the Navy’s bombing range.

    Vieques … is probably one of the most highly contaminated sites in the world.

    –Dr. John Wargo

    RELATED TOPICS
    Vieques
    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
    Vietnam War
    “Vieques, in my experience of studying toxic substances, is probably one of the most highly contaminated sites in the world,” he said. “This results from the longevity of the chemical release, the bombs, the artillery shells, chemical weapons, biological weapons, fuels, diesel fuels, jet fuels, flame retardants. These have all been released on the island, some at great intensity.”

    Wargo is the author of a new book, “Green Intelligence,” on how environments and toxic exposure affect human health. He is also expected to testify as an expert witness in the islanders’ lawsuit.

    He said the chemicals released by the munitions dropped on Vieques can be dangerous to human health and may well have sickened residents or veterans who served on the island.

    “In my own mind, I think the islanders experienced higher levels of exposure to these substances than would be experienced in any other environment,” Wargo said. “In my own belief, I think the illnesses are related to these exposures.”

    The effects of those chemicals could include cancer, damage to the nervous, immune and reproductive systems or birth defects, he said.

    “This doesn’t prove that the exposures caused those specific illnesses,” Wargo added. “But it’s a pretty convincing story from my perspective.”

    Since the Navy left the island, munitions it left behind “continue to leak, particularly from the east end of the island,” Wargo said.

    “My concerns are now predominantly what’s happening in the coastal waters, which provide habitat for an array of fish, many species of which are often consumed by the population on the island,” he said.

    Scientists from the University of Georgia have documented the extent of the numerous unexploded ordinance and bombs that continue to litter the former bomb site and the surrounding waters. The leftover bombs continue to corrode, leaching dangerously high levels of carcinogens, according to researcher James Porter, associate dean of the university’s Odum School of Ecology.

    The Environmental Protection Agency designated parts of Vieques a Superfund toxic site in 2005, requiring the Navy to begin cleaning up its former bombing range. The service identified many thousands of unexploded munitions and set about blowing them up. But the cleanup effort has further outraged some islanders, who fear that more toxic chemicals will be released.

    The U.S. government’s response to their lawsuit is to invoke sovereign immunity, arguing that residents have no right to sue it. The government also disputes that the Navy’s activities on Vieques made islanders ill, citing a 2003 study by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found no link.

    That study, however, has been harshly criticized by numerous scientists, and the CDC is embarking on a new effort to determine whether residents may have been sickened by the contamination from the Navy range.

    Asked whether his duty on the island made him sick, Marrero responds, “Of course it did.”

    “This is American territory. The people that live here are American,” he said. “You hurt someone, you have to take care of that person. And the government’s just not doing anything about it.”


  15. MOSCOW, February 2 (Itar-Tass) – Russia intends to develop in every possible way cooperation with countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

    “For a long time Russia has been absent in Latin America and countries of the Caribbean. Now a strategic decision has been made – we will actively develop cooperation,” the Russian leader said at talks with President of Guyana Bharrat Jagdeo.
    http://propagandapress.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/dictator-bharrat-jagdeo-signs-guyana-into-secret-strategic-alliance-with-dmitry-medvedev-russia/


  16. What’s the fuss about Iran?
    February 1, 2010 | By KNews | Filed Under Letters

    Dear Editor,

    A number of people have been criticising President Jagdeo’s trip to Iran. Frankly, I am not sure what the fuss is all about.

    I am especially bothered by the fact that some of those who have voiced their opinions have never read a book on the foreign policy of small states, or for that matter the foreign policy of any kind of state. Others who may have read such books have never written a single peer reviewed article on the subject. I am sorry, but a few pieces in the newspapers really do not count.

    Let us get something straight. Guyana is a sovereign state and it has the right to pursue an independent foreign policy. That foreign policy should be and is indeed geared towards the national interest of this country. There is nothing unique here, because that is what all states do.

    The United States of America is no different. Consider, for instance, that as President of the United States, George W. H. Bush was, according to many credible sources, (such as Trans Africa Forum) involved in the forceful removal of President Aristide of Haiti. Aristide was exiled in South Africa after Jamaica received a stern warning that keeping the popular Haitian President in the country would be seen as a hostile act by the United States.

    Today the same George W. H. Bush is heading a fund-raising drive (with President Clinton). You can be rest assured that the fundraiser is not simply only driven by humanitarian concerns, but by the larger national interest of the United States.

    The U.S. certainly do not want Venezuela and Cuba to become active in Haiti, and this despite the fact that Cuba has been a valuable partner to the Haitian people for a long time. The U.S. is also deeply concerned about a potential ‘boat people crisis’.

    The point is simple. States do what are in their best national interest. Guyana is no different. President Jagdeo visit to Iran must be put in perspective. Consider the following points:

    (a) Iran was not the only country visited on the Middle East trip. President Jagdeo and his team visited the United Arab Emirates, a thoroughly capitalist place where the definition of democracy is not prefaced by the word liberal. The UAE is a good friend of the U.S.

    (b) The President and his delegation also visited Kuwait – another friend of the United States.

    (c) Informed sources told me that the visit to Iran came after many years of consideration. Guyana has received many invitations from the Government of Iran to visit that country. The trip was, for all practical purposes, exploratory in nature.

    (d) The most important outcome of the trip, from a Guyanese perspective, is that Iranian skilled personnel will assist with the mapping of Guyana’s mineral resources.

    Critics have said that President Jagdeo should have never raised concerns about the rescue and relief missions in Haiti while in Iran. Why not? The President was in Iran when major concerns were raised by practically everyone in Haiti about the bungled humanitarian efforts in the devastated country. Keep in mind that it was mostly American journalists who were making these observations.

    As a senior Caribbean statesman President Jagdeo would have been remiss if he did not lend his voice to the call for urgent action in Haiti.

    There are some other aspects of the U.S. led mission in Haiti that the critics did not touch, this being the result of total ignorance of American Grand Strategy, or of overconsumption of CNN.

    The United States took control of entry and exit into Haiti. No one knows what was said to the Haitian President for this surrendering of sovereignty. Anyone who knows about anything about the ways in which Great Powers deal with vulnerable nations, however, would know that it is not unusual for the Great Powers to use threats to get their way.

    Those who are not familiar with these techniques might way to read the memoirs of former Secretaries of States such as Henry Kissinger or James Baker.

    Keep this in mind. An aircraft with CARICOM officials was not allowed to land in a sister CARICOM country in a time of need. A Brazilian aircraft was denied also landing. In the meantime, the U.S. quickly gave clearance for a mission all the way from Israel (a great friend of the U.S.) to land. Is it worth remembering that the U.S. waited 65 years to recognise Haiti as a state, while it took 11 minutes to do the same for its Middle East friend? (On a technical note I should point out that Israel and the U.S. are not allies).

    I quite agree that Iran is not a democracy. By the same token I must also insist that the current state of Iran is, in part, due to U.S. foreign policy. It was the U.S. that removed a democratically elected leader in Iran in the 1950’s. It was also the U.S. that installed the Shah – who I must tell Freddie Kissoon, should never be mentioned in the same sentence with Nelson Mandela. Kissoon should speak to the thousands of Iranians who had their families tortured and murdered by the Shah of Iran. Incidentally, it was also the U.S. that provided the initial impetus for an Iranian nuclear programme.

    Small states should never mistake their own sovereignty and their idealism for power in terms of real politicks. Maurice Bishop made that mistake by openly challenging the U.S. He had some Guyanese advisers!

    By the same token, in the face of extraordinary circumstances, such as in Haiti today, small states should not simply ‘roll over and play dead’. President Jagdeo did the right thing to speak up. There is no reason why he should have waited to make his statement, presumably on Caribbean soil.

    Finally, the critics seem to be oblivious to the fact that President Obama has called for an opening of dialogue with Iran. The neoconservative right-wing in the United States does not want this. They want another Iraq. How strange it is that the Guyanese critics, most of whom actually live in the United States and Canada, are on the side on the American NeoCons. Do these Guyanese critics also share the anti-Muslim hysteria that is deep in the bosoms of the American neoconservative movement?

    President Jagdeo went on an exploratory trip to the Middle East. The major intent and outcome of the trip was dialogue. What’s wrong with that?

    Dr. Randy Persaud


  17. Since Guyana’s economy grew 2% in 2009,[in a period when many economies are anemic] will he be helping Barbados to ease the strain on her economy by repatriating Guyana’s nationals? Or will he be sending over some of the $250m he expects to get from his Norway pact to help support them? Seems like things are looking up for that 83,000 k sq miles, and there would be no need to burden 166 sq ml with her citizens.

    Be very wary of this man!


  18. yeeeasss bai. coolie coolie bussy bellie!!!

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